Old Friends
by Dragonsbane1611
Summary: I think it's time you have this," Mrs. Longbottom told her grandson, handing him a small photograph. "But ..." he began, but she cut him off. "Run along, now, Neville. The train will be leaving soon."


Old Friends  
  
Sun.11.Jan.2004  
  
***  
  
The door to the compartment flew open.  
  
"Harry, look at this!"  
  
Harry looked up from the latest edition of "The Quibbler" he was currently perusing alongside Luna at the sixteen-year-old boy with the perpetually rounded cheeks and couldn't help but smile.  
  
"Hullo to you, too, Neville," he greeted, sliding away from the girl who buried her nose in the pages of the obscure periodical, but looked curiously over the top at the two of them.  
  
"Hi," Neville breathed, jabbing an aging photograph at the bespectacled teenager.  
  
"What? What is this?" Harry asked, taking the photo. He studied it for a moment, his brow furrowed.  
  
"My gran gave it to me just as I boarded the train. She said she thought I should have it … now."  
  
The events of the previous June were still fresh in Harry's mind, but he pushed them away for the moment, focusing again on the photograph. Luna forgot her magazine and craned her neck to study the picture in Harry's hands. Two giggling infants could be seen sitting aside one another, the one on the left sporting fine, sandy-coloured locks and puffy cheeks, the other, an unkempt tuft of black hair and brilliant viridian eyes.  
  
"When was this taken?" Harry finally managed.  
  
"On our first birthday. Did you know we have the same birthday, Harry?"  
  
"Imagine that."  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
They'd met before, of course, the four of them being active members in the Order of the Phoenix. In fact, both couples were of the few that had found themselves face-to-face with their enemy and survived on three occasions. While Frank and Alice Longbottom were relatively well-known Aurors for the Ministry of Magic, James and Lily Potter preferred to keep a lower profile, not being officially employed by the magical government. Although, they had many a meeting with Ministry officials as required per their duties for the Order.  
  
It wasn't until both women found themselves pregnant at a time when Voldemort's reign of terror was at its utmost, however, that they found themselves in one another's company and it not be under dangerous circumstances. Many had warned them against trying to start families under the present darkness, but it was just like them to do that which was, otherwise, inadvisable. They weren't stupid, no, just defiant; unwilling to let fear dictate their every move. Moreover, sometimes … well, these things just happen. And whilst happenstance may have been behind it all along, both families, as well as many others outside the Order, claimed defiance and were determined that their children would live in a world free of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.  
  
Being pregnant forced Lily and Alice to put their work on the backburner, to their great distaste. After ignoring their husbands' requests to take it easy, it took Dumbledore pulling their duties for them to actually sit back a bit. Relax? No. But sit back. It was during this 'downtime' that they began to form a friendship based on more than just being the 'good guys'. They discussed names and envisioned weekend visits to Godric's Hollow in the summertime where Lily and James resided, which Alice anticipated to be quite nicer than the pilgrimages to Blackpool that Frank had spoken excitedly about.  
  
It came to pass, that all their time together culminated when Neville Longbottom, almost a reflection of his mother, and Harry Potter, with the slim face and pitch-coloured hair of his father and the vibrant green eyes of his mother, were born on the last day of July. As they had planned, Saturdays were spent at the Potters' two-story cottage and the boys would amuse one another as best they could seeing as they were inarticulate and did little else than drool, though it was a usual occurrence to find both fathers and Sirius Black, a regular guest of James and Lily's, gamboling around with the infants on the floor.  
  
"It's almost like having five children, sometimes, isn't it?" Alice commented to her friend one such afternoon when Harry had found Neville as his father set him on the floor and dragged him off on newfound legs to play, James, Frank, and Sirius following on their heels. Lily laughed and both women launched into recollections of the domestic antics of their respective men. It was in this fashion that another day, and many like it, passed.  
  
Their first birthday was no exception.  
  
"James!"  
  
The man, standing on his knees, looked up quickly, snatching his glasses away from the round-faced youngster and replacing them on his nose.   
  
"What? What'd I do?" he asked, ruffling Neville's hair and pinching his nose. The child then giggled as only a baby can and leaned back against him, looking up at Lily. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Harry peeking from between her knees. He grinned at his friend and his father, gurgling something very important from the sound of it. Neville replied in the same manner, and Harry stepped away from his mother and an animated conversation ensued.  
  
"Sirius and Remus just showed up and they want a picture of the boys," Lily explained as James stood and dusted off his pants, smiling at the two children who were still chatting away in a language known only to them. Frank appeared behind Lily's left shoulder, Alice over her right, and a flash went off down the hallway.  
  
"Remus!"  
  
"Whoops."  
  
This attracted the attention of Harry and Neville whose conversation didn't end as they ran out between the parents blocking the doorway. The elder Longbottom male ran off after them and excited squeals could be heard from the corridor.  
  
"Excuse me, but I have a son to fetch for a photo opportunity," James told them matter-of-factly, as they stepped aside to let him pass. Both women exchanged weary glances and followed their husbands into the front room where Sirius was now in possession of the camera and replacing a flash bulb. Remus was conversing in undertones with Frank and James, a babbling child affixed to either leg. The boys' debate had reached a fever pitch and Neville seemed to be making a point. He stopped speaking suddenly and Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before launching into a barrage of more garble. Both children erupted in laughter and fell to the ground. Sirius looked up from his camera and snapped a picture before they could run off again.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
"You can have that, if you want. Gran's got plenty pictures of me," Neville said, though Harry could tell that this picture was very special to his schoolmate.  
  
"No, Neville, I'd rather you kept it somewhere safe."  
  
"Are there others, I wonder?" Luna thought aloud, speaking in her dreamy timbre. The boys looked at her as though just remembering she was with them. She looked back, eyebrows raised and they smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder," Harry agreed, handing the picture back to Neville who pocketed it, making a silent oath to never be without it.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
©2004 – Roxanne L. Martin, Writings From Behind The Red Door 


End file.
